Don't Separate the Personality from the Player

Back in September, I wrote a surprisingly stodgy column on the future of Gilbert Arenas. Sparked by recent comments from Flip Saunders, I ended up wondering if we didn't just need a new Gil on the floor, but a new attitude to go with it. Distracted by DeShawn's new ink, I somehow missed when, days later, Arenas himself went down a similar path: "I'm not the entertainer anymore ... When I was entertaining, all you guys focused on was my words. Now I'd rather you just focus on my basketball."

Thus far, Arenas has followed through on it, even going so far as to get a fine. And I guess whatever part of me wrote that other column—probably a longtime Gil fan tired of hoping for a return to form, and anxious about the inevitable pile-on—is happy with it. But as I watch the news coming out of Wizards camp, and monitor the Twitter accounts of other Wiz players, it becomes pretty clear to me that a dead-serious Gil would be totally out of place on this team. In large part, this is because he'd set the tone when he was healthy. If not their leader, he was such a strong personality that others couldn't help but be swayed by him. Gil may want to go straight, and Saunders may expect him to take the reins of the team. But the levity he brought to the team is a big part of their chemistry, their ability to work together. Take that away, and suddenly, ironically, a new, improved Gil could be detrimental to the team.

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